GOP mutters, gently, as Trump sidesteps Senate confirmation for top aides
1 / 3Trump Republicans Acting OfficialsFILE - In this Saturday June 7, 2014 file photo, former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli addresses the Virginia GOP Convention in Roanoke, Va. President Donald Trump’s anointment of Cuccinelli as acting head of a major federal immigration agency has prompted muttering from Republican senators whose job descriptions include confirming top administration aides. But it’s not gone beyond muttering.
Definitive listings of acting officials in Trump's and other administrations are hard to come by because no agency keeps overall records. Yet Christina Kinane, an incoming political science professor at Yale, compiled data in her doctoral dissertation,"Control Without Confirmation: The Politics of Vacancies in Presidential Appointments."
While Republicans widely blame Democratic opposition to Trump's nominees for his use of acting officials to fill some posts — a characterization Democrats reject — many also say his reliance on that alternative is costly. "I don't know who spends their day worrying" that their acquiescence was fraying the Senate's constitutional power to advise and consent on nominees, said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas."They're almost like they're willing to act as staff members rather than independent senators," said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., a senator since 1975.
"That's probably the only way they could get him in there," the No. 2 Senate GOP leader, John Thune of South Dakota, said of Trump's naming Cuccinelli acting director. But one explanation is that under Trump, the process of filling jobs has been slow and riddled with missteps.
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